Midlife Crisis
Summary: Where Sasuke tries to let go, and Sakura vows to become his own personal leech.
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The silence was brittle; like a glass so thin, it makes you afraid to touch it.
“What did you just say to me?” she asked softly, dangerously.
Sasuke felt the weight of the years heavy on his shoulders. He rubbed a weary hand over his face, felt the inadequacy of his position, let out a tired sigh. “I said you don’t have to stay. With me.”
He heard her swallow, turned his head to see her chin wobble.
“What right do you have to tell me what to do?” she asked in a thick voice.
His eyes turned frantic, “Exactly, Sakura. Don’t you see?” he asked, angry. “I have no right! What have I ever done for you?”
“Is that what you think?” she was angry now, he could see; red in the face, huffing, eyes narrowed to better glare at him. His chest ached and his fingers tingled with the need to touch her. He clenched his hands into fists.
“I don’t think—“
“You stupid man!” she shouted in a thin, reedy voice, then began to cry in earnest. Not quite being able to help himself, he reached out, but she shoved him away.
“How dare you!” she shouted, sobbing out big, fat tears, “How DARE you?!” she roared again.
“Sakura—“ he started, desperately trying to reach for her.
“Do you think,” she said, sniffled, then continued, “that when I tell you that I love you, I say it out of habit or for conversation?”
He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
She was breathing calmer now, but the tears were still slipping out unchecked. “I say it,” she said slowly, patiently, like explaining something to a particularly idiotic child, “to remind you that you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me!” she said angrily, wiping away the tears.
“I—“
“Shut up,” she snapped, holding up a hand. “I don’t think you realize what you mean to me,” she said, calm now, eyes closed in a condescending way, “Just know that I am never, never ever, going to leave you. Understand?”
“I just wanted to give you a cho—“
“I don’t NEED a choice, Sasuke-kun,” she admonished, less angry, more frustrated now. “I love you, so I’m here with you. It was never a choice! It was always a decision! Get it through your thick, stupid head!”
This time, the silence was less tense, less fragile, and brimming with hopeful anticipation. “Okay,” he said finally, and nodded solemnly. “Okay.”
Sakura huffed out a relieved breath. “I’m going to be your own personal leech,” she declared. “You’re never going to shake me off.”
“…I don’t—think, that might be a—bad thing,” he mumbled, and blushed when she walked over to embrace him.
Title: Diagnosing a sulking husband
Author: Ella / ff.net’s xElla8D / youtube’s xHawtAMV
Summary: Day 21: Midlife crisis - in which Sasuke is just a bit of a needy father. Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.
Prompt: Midlife crisis
Rating: T Comments: Because Sarada might just side with her mama. Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11349882/21/Daily-spices
Title: The Crux of the Crisis
Summary: In which Ino has a midlife crisis and manages to pull Sakura along.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. But Kishi fuckin’ owned that shit.
Prompt: Midlife Crisis from day twenty-one of the SasuSakuMonth Prompts.
Rating: K
Words: 3,228
Date Completed: 7/21/15 (two in one day, baby!)
Warning(s): None
Author’s Note: Yay SakuIno Brotp!! I skimped (cut out entirely) on the fight scene, sorry. That just didn’t feel like the point of this piece. I’m sorry this is a little messy but there is one minute to midnight and I have imposed lofty goals upon myself.
“Haruno fucking Sakura!!” A loud, familiar voice sounded down the hospitals halls.
In the middle of briefing her patient on how to take care of his newly regrown liver, Sakura froze as she recognized the owner of the voice. The pen she’d been skimming down the page stopped abruptly, hovering over the last line of her instructions—Absolutely NO training for at least a week. A couple heartbeats passed and Sakura’s patient looked at her oddly. It was a mixture of “you-have-some-weird-fuckin’-friends” and “why-are-you-still-smiling-like-that?”
Professional smile still in place, Sakura shook her head and finally read the last line of the protocol to him. She went through her usual process, letting the patient know that if anything felt off to give the hospital a call and they’d get her right away. It was a spiel so ingrained that it just came automatically, leaving her mind free to ponder other things: like her next patient.
This time, however, Sakura was internally cursing her over the top, blonde best friend.
“Well, that about does it, Kachi-san. I hope you have a relaxing rest of your day.” She continued to smile, and brought her clipboard to her chest as she backed out the door. “Excuse me.”
The instant the door clicked closed behind her, the fake grin dropped from her lips. Mint green eyes flashed as Sakura stalked away from her patients’ door in the general direction of her friend’s chakra.
“That’s Uchiha fucking Sakura to you, Pig!” she yelled back down the hallway. A couple of the nurses and patients looked mildly scandalized, but Sakura paid them no mind. Running the hospital came with a couple of perks—like the ability to scream profanity at your friends.
Plus, if they thought that was bad, they were probably new.
“There you are, Forehead!” Ino exclaimed, rounding the corner of the hallway. There was a wild look in her baby blue eyes that made Sakura grimace. She could feel a headache coming on already.
“What do you want, Pig?” she demanded, closing the distance between them. The stairs to her office were just to their left, so she opened the door for Ino before following in after her.
“When was the last time you went on a mission, Sakura?” Ino quieried. Although Sakura couldn’t see her face, the use of her real name snapped her to attention. Ino rarely used her real name; she had more fun teasing her best friend. Her actual name only came into play when Ino was being sincere of serious.
“Uhhm, about, let’s see…Sarada’’s fifteen now?” Sakura counted back. There was that one time Sarada ran off to find her father, and then she went on another mission about six months later…was that really it? It was, wasn’t it? Hm. “About three years, then.”
“Same!” Ino blurted, turning around and blocking Sakura’s progression up the stairs. She gestured wildly, nearly smacking Sakura in the face. “What’s up with that? We’re still badass kunoichi, right? We could still seduce someone. We could still assassinate someone. Other nations still need our medical skills, right? Right?”
“Pig! Quiet down!” Sakura rubbed her ear and glared at her friend. The acoustics of the stairwell plus the sheer volume that Ino possessed did nothing for her growing headache. She pushed the kunoichi hard on her shoulder to turn her around again and resumed the trek to her office. If Ino was going to start yelling again, Sakura wanted to make sure the echoes didn’t kill her.
Once her office door had been locked behind them, Sakura slid a red note card in the window behind the blind. That would let her staff know that she was not to be bothered unless it was an emergency. With the way Ino had already begun pacing, Sakura could tell that it was going to take a while to talk her best friend down from her midlife crisis.
A kettle sat on her side table—since Sakura needed at least three pots of tea to keep upright during her sixteen hour shifts—and she got it brewing before collapsing on the her cushiony couch. She knew better than to try and get Ino to sit down next to her. The blonde would come when she was ready, and not a second sooner.
“So, why do you want to go off and seduce someone again?” Sakura asked, propping her head up on the palm of her hand. “Getting bored of Sai, already?
Although she knew it wasn’t true, it was a good a place as any to start. Once Ino set her mind on something she was nearly impossible to stop. If Sakura could diminish her attachment to each of the points she had just listed, then there might be a chance to turn this sudden crisis around.
“What?” Ino paused her pacing to stare horrifiedly at Sakura. “No!”
“Then why would you want to go on a seduction mission?” She didn’t make eye contact and settled for spinning a teacup around on the table beside the couch. “From what I remember, they were never particularly fun.”
“But I was good at them!” Ino gripped, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Whenever there was a corrupt lord that needed taking out, or, or, or some secret intel we needed from a grabby prince, I was the one they came to! Me!”
Bingo, Sakura thought. They were getting to the crux of the matter. The kettle started whistling, and Sakura took the pause it granted her to plan out her next move. Being unnecessary and useless were fears that Sakura was used to grappling with. She understood the havoc they could sow in a person’s mind if left unchecked.
With a forlorn sigh, Ino collapsed onto the couch next to Sakura. She accepted the cup of lemon balm tea without comment and swirled it listlessly.
“Am I just not sexy anymore?” she whispered into her cup.
At thirty-five, there was no denying that Ino’s body had changed. Her hips here wider set thanks to childbirth, and the subtlest of crinkles were visible in the corners of her eyes. Still, no one could oppose the fact that Ino was still one of the sexiest women Konoha had.
Age had only added experience, and, had she wanted, Sakura didn’t doubt that Ino would have any man she wanted in three flutters of her long eyelashes and one coy smile. Life as a kunoichi had kept Ino fit enough to wear her favored belly shirts—not something most women their age could say. Platinum blonde hair fell over her back in shiny waves, all the way down to the back of her knees.
There wasn’t a man alive who wouldn’t kill to have that spread over their pillows at night.
So, when Sakura drew Ino’s hand into hers and patted it before telling her that she was still drop-dead gorgeous, she wasn’t lying. Not even slightly exaggerating. Whether she just liked the compliment or she actually believed her, Sakura couldn’t tell, but her words still managed to bring a smile to Ino’s lips.
“Plus,” Sakura continued, dropping Ino’s hand so she could grab her tea, “Did you ever consider that Naruto might think you didn’t want any more seduction missions, since you have a family now? Since he has some other options, I think he thought he could sacrifice your expertise to keep you happy.”
Ino took a long sip of her tea, a contemplative expression on her face. Sakura mirrored the gesture, giving her friend some time to process what she had just said. After Sarada had officially become a genin, Sakura had suffered a similar existential crisis. She just wanted to make the navigation process a little smoother for her friend.
“Well, it’s not the seduction mission I miss specifically,” Ino stated eventually. “I guess I just miss trusted to go and complete a mission. I want to fight again—a real fight, not a spar—and kick some lowlife’s ass in the name of the Leaf.”
“Which you could totally still do,” Sakura interrupted before Ino could start doubting her own combative skills, “I was the one who healed Choji and Shikimaru’s wounds after last week’s InoShikaCho training session, I would know.”
Ino grinned a devlish grin. Apparently that had been a good training session.
“There’s also the fact that we’re pretty much in an era of peace,” Sakura added, making her voice sound light and off-hand. “There’s not many dangerous mission that would require someone of our caliber to go out in the field—even Sasuke’ pretty much back for good.”
“Ugghh!” Ino groaned, throwing her head back against the wall and tossing her arm over her eyes. That lasted for about a minute before Ino abandoned her tea to thread both hands angrily in her hair. For a moment it looked like Ino was about to start tearing her long tresses right out of her head, and Sakura wasn’t sure what she did wrong. Eventually, Ino ceased her death grip and unclenched her eyes.
She then proceeded to take a delicate sip of her tea as if nothing has happened.
“What the hell was that, Pig?” Ino had scared her, dammit.
Ino considered her from out of the side of her eyes.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we’re living in a time of peace and all.” The “but” in that sentence was so glaringly obvious it took the sincerity out of Ino’s statement.
Sakura snorted and crossed her arms, unsure of where this was going. She damn better be grateful for the peace, Sakura thought as she pursed her lips. Her husband had spent thirteen years away from home to guarantee that their children never knew the terror of war or eternal sting of loss.
“But I just never expected it to be so—so boring!” Ino exclaimed with such vehemence that she took Sakura off-guard. “I mean, my whole life I was trained to be the perfect killing machine, and now I’m supposed to—to what? Raise the next generation of killing machines and tend the flower shop? I don’t think so!”
“That’s hardly all you do—”
“Tenten gets combat missions!” she declared, lurching to her feet before resuming her pacing. “I want watch rogues tremble as they realize they picked on the wrong kunoichi! I want to watch enemies fall! I want to GET OUT OF THESE DAMN WALLS!!”
“Okay, okay!!” Sakura surrendered, holding her hands up to keep her best friend from practically crawling into her lap. The bloodlust surrounding her was palpable. “I’ll go see if Naruto has any missions for us. I’m sure Tsunade can cover for me a few days, and Sasuke-kun’s home, so he can look after Sara-chan.”
“Great!” Ino chirped as Sakura got up, clapping her hands together gleefully. “I’ll go pack, meet you at the gate!”
---x---
It didn’t take much to convince Naruto to let them out. One look at Sakura’s overtaxed and more than a little annoyed expression was all it took him to know that something was seriously wrong. All Sakura had to do was tell him that she needed a combat mission for two kunoichi or there would be a murder spree on his hands. The scroll detailing a requested extermination of some rogues in a border down was pushed towards her without a second thought.
“Thanks,” she told him wearily, grabbing the scroll and skimming it briefly as she walked out the door.
“I think I should be thanking you!” Naruto called after her as she walked down the hall.
You really should, Sakura thought with a frown. If the taste of Ino she had just gotten was in any way representative of what she would be acting like during their adventure, Sakura might have bitten off more than she could chew.
Like promised, Ino was waiting at the gate with her pack thrown over her back when Sakura finally arrived at the gate. She beamed excitedly at the scroll Sakura carried, and if Ino had been any younger Sakura would have sworn the woman would have been bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Eventually, Sakura just gave her the damn mission scroll so she would quit bothering her with a constant stream of questions. It was like take a genin—a genin Naruto—on his very first mission.
Everything was fantastic. The fact that it was a day and a half’s run away was fantastic. Because didn’t Sakura know that now they would get to camp together? Just like old times! The fact that the rogues were wanted dead or alive was fantastic. Oooh, because that meant they didn’t have to hold back their attacks now. The fact the mission was a combat mission was fantastic. Didn’t Sakura ever get tired of just healing people day in and day out?
When they set up camp for that night, Sakura was afraid her twitching eye was going to become a permanent feature. Fine, she could admit she was excited to have a combat mission again; Sakura was as addicted to the adrenaline rush that followed a battle just as much as any other shinobi.
But Ino’s overly enthusiastic response to everything was wearing on her very last thread of patience—and after being on a team with Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura had built up a vast reservoir of patience.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Ino’s optimism only lasted the first half of the trip.
After traveling and a half day of searching, Ino and Sakura found the rogues’ hideout. From the looks of their camp, the group had been causing the local towns quite a bit of trouble; it was no wonder that Konoha had been called in to help. Sacks upon sacks of fresh produce and grain were stacked against the side of a large boulder. Expensive items like china and what looked like jewelry carelessly littered the ground. A couple of kids toys—mutilated almost beyond recognition—lay in a pile next to the campfire.
In short, they looked like a bunch of assholes.
Ino exchanged a look with Sakura and cracked her knuckles expectantly. Despite her reluctance to come on this mission in the first place, Sakura couldn’t help the homicidal grin that spread across her face. Her fingers twitched and flexed in her battle gloves, and she could feel the thrum of energy coursing just beneath her skin.
The battle lasted all of ten minutes.
Sure, there were about twenty of them. Yes, they were well-armed rogues. Hell, they were even decently trained compared to most scavenging jerks she’d run into. But Sakura and Ino were jonin level kunoichi—and senior jonins at that.
There wasn’t a scratch to be had between them by the time they were all tied up.
“Well,” Ino drawled, wiping a single droplet of sweat of her forehead as she surveyed the gaggle of criminals bound before them, “That was disappointing.”
Sakura couldn’t help but agree. After all the hyping up they’d done, their victory was a bitter disappointment.
It was obvious the exhilaration had been sucked from Ino’s sails as they marched their prisoners to the head of the town. She looked, for lack of a better word, deflated. Her shoulders were drooped, and there was an unmistakable drag to her steps.
By the time the pair got on the road again, Ino was nothing but complaints.
The camping that had been so exciting the first time was now a pain. Sleeping bags were nowhere soft enough for her back—to which Sakura reluctantly agreed. And why did the town have to be so far away from Konoha? Weren’t they actually closer to Suna at this point? Couldn’t one of their nins take care of it?
When Konoha’s gates were finally in sight, Sakura wasn’t sure who was more relieved.
“Agh, finally!” Ino exclaimed, arching her back as she walked and stretching her arm high above her head, “I am dying for a hot shower—no more of that river bathing shit for me.”
“Hot water sounds nice,” Sakura all but moaned. Her occipitals and deltoids were killing her. Not that the mission itself was a stressor, but simply dealing with Ino for five days straight was enough to have her muscles in knots—midlife crisis Ino, to boot. Really, there was nothing Sakura would like more than to curl up in a boiling bath as all her tension melted away.
“And I am so ready to get back to Interrogation HQ. Breaking criminals and traitors is way more exciting than combat missions.”
“Glad you see it that way,” she intoned dryly. If Ino could have simply been convinced that she was already living the life she loved, maybe this hellacious trip wouldn’t have happened.
But it did, and it was a testament to their friendship that both women walked away—alive and healthy—from their ordeal. Had it been any weaker, one of them might have ended up strangled. Instead, the kunoichi hugged at the gate and promised to meet eachother for lunch sometime that week before walking their separate ways home.
After all, who but a best friend could be a midlife crisis coach?
Sasuke was sitting on the porch with a paper in his hand as Sakura dragged herself up the stairs to their house. At the sound of her approach, Sasuke flicked an edge of the paper down so he could see her and glanced up and down her form quickly.
The paper was pushed to the side, and Sasuke opened his arm wide enough so that Sakura could nestle into his side if she so chose. It so happened she did choose to do so, and she snuggled into her husband with an exhausted grunt.
Without hesitating, Sasuke began to nead the taut muscles of her shoulder, and Sakura melted bonelessly into his touch. He laughed.
“Tough mission?”
“More like tough Ino. The woman was one raging organic sack of hormones mixed with a touch of existential crisis.”
She felt Sasuke flinch more than she saw it, since her face was currently pressed into his collar bone.
“Ouch.” A pause. “Want me to give you a back massage in the bath?”
“Yessss,” Sakura groaned, both to the magic he was working on her shoulder and his suggestion. “Where’s Sara-chan?”
“Out training with Boruto and Mitsuki,” he answered, digging into the base of her neck, “She’ll back in time for lunch.”
After allowing Sasuke to work Sakura’s muscles into a somewhat normal state, she reluctantly pulled away and stood up, popping her back as she went.
“Don’t ever let me have a midlife crisis, okay? They’re exhausting and totally pointless.”
“Somehow, I don’t see you having a midlife crisis,” Sasuke told her, slinging an arm around her waist as they walked inside.
He was probably right, too, Sakura thought as they made their way into the bathroom. Ino had been swept away by her nostalgia for her youth and the fear that she wasn’t living life to her fullest potential. Sakura was simply lucky to have always known what she wanted. Every day she spent with her husband, daughter, and friends was a gift, and she treasured every moment of the present.
If Sakura had any influence over time, she wouldn’t attempt to turn the clock back like Ino.
He is tired, worn out. Metaphorically he can’t take another step, barely holding on to himself and thinking of her is the only thing that keeps him from crumbling.
But he wants so badly to crumble.
It shouldn’t be as hard.
He’s almost through with Sakura’s secret stash of poisons and venoms. It’s a sanctuary for when he reaches a particularly low day in where he can barely see what’s in front of him. He’s lost count of how many times he’s tried it, how many times he’s stood in front of the mirror his end in hand and ready to end it all.
Almost free, but not quite.
And suddenly she’s there, never says a thing, but her eyes look at him telling him that he can live another day. Only she could ever have so much faith in him. She looks beautiful, not a day older than twenty-seven…while he stands there looking defeated, every line in his face telling of the days that he’s been trapped in life without her.
He can often see the understanding in her daughters gaze, he can see forgiveness in her eyes about what he’s yet to do. “Mama was always the best part of you.”
Her stash is almost empty, only a few bottles left. This time, as he holds the bottle to his lips he realizes there’s nothing to hold him, he can finally be free.
And on cue she appears again. This time her eyes say something else entirely…she knows that he’s been strong for long enough. Her eyes are sad, mourning his sorry excuse for a life not yet finished.
“Let me join you.” He tells her, almost pleading and as he blinks she’s gone.
He takes one more breath before drinking it. If there is such a thing as mercy he’ll join her somewhere up there where she is. He closes his eyes, a burning sensation ripping his body apart but soon he sees her and the fire stops.
“Welcome home.” She whispers opening her arms to him and he steps into her embrace with a smile.
a/n: Angst! For xxlovendreamsxx and raspberrynilla I am so sorry.
Sasusaku Month 2015! I'm so excited to be participating this year!
Day 21
Prompt: Midlife Crisis
Rating: K
Summary: Sakura Haruno is used to be woken up in the morning by yelling, she has three kids after all. However, she is not used to the yelling that wakes her up belonging to her husband; which is what she wakes up to this morning.
Disclaimer: Naruto and the other characters are not mine, only the plot is.
Enjoy~
"Sakura! Sakuraaaa!" A deep yells-on the verge of becoming a shriek-rings out from the bathroom and into the connected bedroom where a pink-haired woman jumps out of bed at the panicked voice of her husband.
It takes her a minute to get out of her bed though, as her blanket has wrapped itself around her legs. Once her legs are free though, she hastily runs into the bathroom and the weirdest scene she has ever witnessed. As soon as she opens the door and peers in, her husband's name is stopped from coming out of her mouth as she sees he is face to face with the mirror while he mumbles something under his breath. She silently wonders if she should back out of the bathroom and just leave him to his business, but he spots her before she can make a decision.
"Sakura! It's horrible!" The top half of his body is now facing her, and she only now notices one hand of his is hovering over his head.
"You're going to wake the children, Sasuke." Sakura decides she has no choice to indulge her husband's, whatever, so she sighs and strides in the bathroom to stand next to him. He had turn back to the mirror in the time of her walk, and she can now see that he is holding a strand of hair in his hand and examining it.
"Sasuke?"
"It's a gray hair, Sakura." The words are so tight, and Sakura has to hold back her laughter as watches her husband glare at the hair and then almost cry at the sight of it.
"So?" Sakura inquires as she uses one of her hands to hide a yawn while she wonders why she even got out of bed; she should have known it would be something this ridiculous.
"It means I'm old." Sasuke states in horror as he begins to bang his head on the mirror slightly. Sakura lets her hand fall away from her face as she observes her husband's little meltdown.
"Sasuke."
"Not now, Sakura! I'm in the middle of a crisis!" Sasuke throws back to Sakura after she said his name. He has moved his head off of the mirror, but he is still staring at his reflection as one hand still holds his just found gray hair.
Sakura just shakes her head as she continues to watch her husband deal with his little midlife crisis. Deciding she needs to get her day going and not just watch her husband's little meltdown, Sakura gives her husband one last fleeting glance before she starts to turn around. Just as the sound of small feet can be heard hitting the tile in the room. Sakura sees her oldest child rubbing her eyes as she turns towards the door and her face and eyes instantly soften as she takes in her child.
"It's a little early for you to be up, Sarada." Sakura states as she walks over to her little girl before bending down to Sarada's eye level. Sakura gives the girl a poke on her forehead as Sarada starts to really wake up.
"I could hear dad yelling about something." Sakura cracks a smile as she brushes her daughter's hair out of her eyes before bringing her in a hug and picking her up. Sarada is tall for the age of seven, but she is still light enough for Sakura to pick her up. Sakura brings her daughter over to the counter by Sasuke before putting down Sarada on it.
"Daddy is just going through a midlife crisis at the moment, sweetheart." Sakura says as she leans against the counter behind Sarada while shooting Sasuke a look.
"Midlife crisis?" Sakura inquires as she gives her mom a cute, little head tilt.
"It's when someone thinks they're old and starts losing themselves a bit because they can't deal with it yet." Sakura explains as she notices Sasuke is completely absorbed with his gray hair and trying to figure out what to do. Honestly, she thinks, he's not even forty yet, he needs to chill.
"Daddy's old!" Sarada yells while she also lets out a little giggle. Sakura watches as Sasuke freezes at their daughter's words, and she has to wonder where this morning is going to go.
"Sarada, you're right." Sasuke states as he puts his palms down on the counter before dropping his head and staring down at the floor. Sarada finds the action hilarious as she continues to giggle, but Sakura finds it annoying and she puts her hands on her hips to express her feelings. Of course, Sasuke doesn't notice and continues to keep his head down while muttering things.
"Enough." Sakura utters while moving faster than Sasuke or Sarda can register. Both of them only notice Sakura had moved after Sasuke lets out a yelp of pain and Sakura holds up a single gray hair in her hands.
"Now you're not old." Sakura expresses before she turns and walks out of the bathroom after dropping the hair in the trash, leaving her husband and daughter in the room to deal with the aftermath of her deed.
"It's gone?" Sasuke questions as he lifts his head up to get a better view in the mirror. He turns his head right and then left, and when he sees only black hair, he catches his daughter by surprise as he lifts her off the counter.
"I'm not old!" Sasuke yells as he swings Sarada around the bathroom, her giggles echoing in the room.
"Daddy's not old!" Sarada yells as she enjoys her father swinging her around.
The two laugh and cheer some more while they dance around the room, but Sasuke finally stops to set his daughter down after his arms start to get a little tired. She's not as light as she used to be, he thinks.
"Let's go and get some breakfast, Sarada. Your brothers are probably up already too." Sasuke communicates to his daughter as he picks her up to her carry her down stairs.
"Yeah brekky!" Sarada yells as she holds onto her father's neck so she doesn't fall off.
They leave the bathroom and see Sakura brushing her hair, while Sasuke and Sakura' youngest sits on her lap calmly. Sarada waves one hand at her mother in the mirror and Sakura smiles as she looks up to see Sasuke and Sarada happily behind her.
"Midlife crisis over?" Sakura asks her husband as she meets his eyes in the mirror.
"There never was one." Sasuke answers back while looking the other way as he makes his way out of the room with Sarada. Sakura shakes her head and just smiles to herself in the mirror as she thinks of how crazy and weird the love of her life is.
"Daddy's crazy isn't he?" Sakura asks her son on her lap, the boy too young to understand, just giggles at his mother's happy voice and pulls at the end of her long hair.
"Just wait until he hits his real midlife crisis."
Finally a story with Sarada! Sorry it's bit short, I haven't had the time to really write.
Happy summer!
~S-cherry-Blossem
P.S Thanks for all likes, reblog, and follows1 They mean a lot!
“She hates me.” They were sitting in bed together reading when her husband spoke – his voice pained.
“Sasuke-kun?”
He turned his face to look fully on her, his eyes holding the same pain as his voice had, “Sarada hates me. She only ever cries when she sees me. My daughter hates me. I knew she would eventually when she learned about the past, but she’s just a baby and she already hates me.”
“Umm...” Their little baby did cry a lot, but Sakura didn’t think it had anything to do with her husband – she was a baby, babies cried.
“I deserve it, I know, but how can I live the rest of my life when my daughter hates me?” He was talking so earnestly, “Maybe if I use a henge from now on she’ll think I left and be happy.” He began to raise his arm, his hand prepared to form the seals.
“I won’t kiss you when you have someone else’s face.” Had someone hit her husband over the hell? What the hell was wrong with him. “I love you, not some stranger.”
“But Sarada –“
“Is a baby, she cries because that’s all she can do to communicate. If she’s hungry she’ll cry, if she’s tired she’ll cry, if she wants someone to hold her she’ll cry. If she wants to pull on someone’s hair she’ll CRY! She cries when she laughs too much, shannaro!” Since when had her husband been so insecure?
“Bu-,”
“No buts, that child absolutely adores her papa, Sasuke-kun, believe me. You think her crying is bad when you’re around? She screams until she’s hoarse after you leave. I have to give her one of your shirts in order for her to sleep.” That daughter of hers really did love her papa – Sakura was admittedly a little jealous.
“Really?”
“Yes really! If you would get over your irrational fear of ‘tainting’ her you’d realize.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Every time you put her down after holding her for a while that child practically breaths fire!”
Sasuke-kun looked thoughtful, “So she doesn’t hate me?”
“No.”
“I can still be her Papa?”
“I only have the one husband you know Sasuke-kun, and Sarada only has the one father – who else would be my daughter’s Papa?”
“Right, sorry.” He looked away seemingly embarrassed about their conversation. “Thank you Sakura.”
Every person in this world should have a father, right?
Including me?
But why does it feel like I don’t?
Like mama is the only parent I have?
Where is my papa?
Every time, it’s always the same answer, “He’s on a very important mission, Sa-chan.”
How long?
Forever?
For the rest of his life?
For the rest of mama’s life?
For the rest of my life?
But why?
Why does mama have to fight by herself?
Why? Why? Why?
Life seems to weigh more as more questions pile up in my mind.
Does papa think about us?
Does he even remember us?
Does he even love us?
Even when I look at his face in the photograph, when I look at those eyes so similar to mine that it hurts whenever I think that he’s a part of me, I realize.
I don’t know anything about this person.
xxx
He’s back.
But for how long?
Will he eventually leave again?
Leave mama and I again?
And when will his mission end?
Does it even have an ending?
Time seems to be slipping away like sand.
But I get it now, sort of, about his mission. About him.
He’s a very quiet man.
But he listens well.
I like talking to him. About school, jutsus, and all the things he missed.
I’m starting to get him. Understand him maybe a little bit.
The way his eyes linger on mama for longer than necessary.
He shows his love in the most subtle way, the most delicate way.
Whenever he’s talking to mama and I just happen to be there, it’s like I’m intruding on their personal conversation.
Those trivial things, I hold dear to my heart.
.
.
I want to get to know him.
I want to get to know my father.
.
.
.
end.
*A/n: I wanted to write a silly one for this prompt. But I’ve been having a moody and not so pleasant day so I decided to go with this angsty (?) one. Anyways I hope you’ll still enjoy it and have a great day!
